Skewb

The Skewb (/ˈskjuːb/) is a combination puzzle and a mechanical puzzle in the style of the Rubik's Cube. It was invented by Tony Durham and marketed by Uwe Mèffert.[1] Although it is cubical, it differs from the typical cubes' construction; its axes of rotation pass through the corners of the cube, rather than the centers of the faces. There are four axes, one for each space diagonal of the cube. As a result, it is a deep-cut puzzle in which each twist affects all six faces.

Mèffert's original name for this puzzle was the Pyraminx Cube, to emphasize that it was part of a series including his first tetrahedral puzzle, the Pyraminx. The name Skewb was coined by Douglas Hofstadter in his Metamagical Themas column. Mèffert liked the new name enough to apply it to the Pyraminx Cube, and he also named some of his other puzzles after it, such as the Skewb Diamond.[2]

In December 2013, Skewb was recognized as an official World Cube Association competition event.[3]

Mechanism

The Skewb's pieces are divided into subgroups and have restrictions that are apparent upon examining the puzzle's mechanism. The eight corners are split into two groups—the four corners attached to the central four-armed spider and the four "floating" corners that can be removed from the mechanism easily. These corners cannot be interchanged i.e. in a single group of four corners, their relative positions are unchanged. A floating corner can be distinguished by squishing down when applying pressure to the corner. The centers only have two possible orientations, seen by scrambling a Skewb-like puzzle where the center orientation is visible (such as the Skewb Diamond or Skewb Ultimate), or by disassembling the puzzle.

Records

The world record time (single) for a Skewb is 0.75 seconds, set by Carter Kucala of the United States on 23 of March 2024 at Going Fast in Grandview 2024 In Kansas City.[4]

The world record average of 5 (excluding fastest and slowest) is 1.53 seconds, set by Carter Kucala on 15 July 2023 at the Canadian Championship, with times of 1.89, 1.14, 1.55, 1.14, and 4.15 seconds.[4]

Top 5 solvers by single solve
Solver[5]Fastest solveCompetition
Carter Kucala0.75s Going Fast in Grandview 2024
Zayn Khanani0.81s Rubik’s WCA North American Championship 2022
Simon Kellum0.85s Going Fast in Grandview 2024
Manuel Prieto de Antón 0.88s Baztan Open 2023
Dominic Redisi0.91s Trains on Main La Grange 2024

Top 5 solvers by Olympic average of 5 solves
Name[6]Fastest averageCompetitionTimes
Carter Kucala1.53s Canadian Championship 20231.89, (1.14), 1.55, 1.14, (4.15)
Zayn Khanani1.56s Pretzel Mania 20221.30, (1.20), 1.79, 1.60, (4.89)
Dominic Redisi1.73s Beat the Clock Westminster 2024(1.36), 1.38, 1.95, (2.46), 1.85
Brayden Wroten1.77s Rocky Mountain Championship 20231.80, (1.30), (2.32), 1.65, 1.85
Simon Kellum 1.84s Swoop In Again Oxford 2023 2.21, 1.63, (1.57), (3.13), 1.67

See also

References
  1. "Tony Durham Mechanical Puzzles". The Metagrobologist. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  2. "Jaap's Puzzle Page, Skewb Page". Jaap's Puzzle Page.
  3. "Add Skewb. Resolves issue #102. · thewca/wca-regulations@66d6da9". GitHub. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  4. World Cube Association Official Results - Skewb
  5. World Cube Association
  6. World Cube Association
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.